


The Cupid

by Antares



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Kissing, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 18:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17854571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antares/pseuds/Antares
Summary: Rodney is a cupid who made the worst mistake a cupid can make...





	The Cupid

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Cupid - Art](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17854640) by [Antares](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antares/pseuds/Antares). 



> Many, many thanks to my beta pinkdiamonds!

Rodney was a very successful cupid. He took his work seriously and prepared meticulously for every new job. Nobody would accuse him of creating a Romeo-and-Juliet disaster that people were talking about even centuries later. No, thank you very much!

Therefore he attached great importance to his equipment and the technical side of his work. Before launching his arrow he always took into consideration the speed of the wind, the weight of the arrow and the body mass of the target, and he calculated the best trajectory, even if the human was moving. 

Unfortunately, his new job involved a human being that was moving all the time. John Sheppard, a pilot of the Air Force, was not a very sedate man. And to make matters worse, he was even living in a different galaxy which meant long distances travel, something Rodney wasn’t too fond of. He liked very much to return to his cat in the evening, sit in front of the TV and eat chips, once his work was done. 

But nobody cared how he felt about long journeys and sleeping in beds other than his own. Major John Sheppard was on his target-list, and therefore he had to make sure that he fell in love with Dr. Elizabeth Weir, at least that’s what his papers said. Thankfully, she was in the same galaxy, even in the same city. So once he was in Atlantis it should be easy. He would shoot Sheppard first, because he was the more difficult, moving target. Then he’d take the arrow with a trace of Sheppard’s blood and hit Dr. Weir, which should be much easier because she spent most of her time sitting behind a desk. Eh voilà, another job done well!

One factor Rodney hadn’t counted on was that traveling to another galaxy would have such a big influence on his blood sugar level. Before he really realized that he was hypoglycemic, he noticed that he had arrived at the perfect time. John Sheppard was in his quarters, lying on his bed and reading. 

John had completely made himself at home. He was only wearing pink-red briefs, and for a second Rodney admired the classical beauty of the man. He had to tear his eyes away from the lovely face, the hairy torso and promising bulge in the Jockeys, because this was his best chance to get his job done! Rodney made a quick calculation and took the golden arrow from his quiver, put it into his bow and shot. 

When the arrow was on its way, Rodney saw a tiny pearl of blood glistening on the tip of the arrow. He knew with absolute certainty that it would hit Sheppard directly into his heart, because he was genius and his arrows never failed. Therefore he was very troubled to see that the tip of the arrow was contaminated. 

Damnation! Where did the blood come from? Suddenly there was a ball of lead in his stomach. Not wanting to believe it, hoping for another explanation – there had to be another explanation! - he checked it nevertheless. Rodney looked down at his hands and saw a tiny scratch on his right index finger. The blood on the arrow was his. 

No, no, no! That was the worst mistake a cupid could make. A mistake everybody was warned against since the first day of cupid training. A mistake that would make him the laughing stock in the cupid world!

How could that have happened? The moment Rodney thought it, he noticed that his fingers were shaking. He needed something to eat! At once. Damned hypoglycemia. 

John Sheppard took this moment to glide down from his bed, on his knees and look up to him adoringly. With one hand he grabbed Rodney’s leg. 

“Hi, who are you?” John asked with a tiny smile that hit Rodney in the middle of his heart. 

Oh no, this was getting worse by the minute! Sheppard was able to see him! That meant something was really, really wrong, because usually he was invisible to humans. 

“You look like a cupid, but Valentine’s Day was two weeks ago,” Sheppard continued. 

Rodney was disgusted. “Valentine’s Day? Pfft! The representation of cupids on Valentine’s Day is as accurate as the representation of doctors in a hospital series on TV. I am…” 

“How did you get here?” John frowned. 

“I’ll clear everything up in a few minutes. But first, calm down, don’t panic,” Rodney advised and kneeled down beside Sheppard. He grabbed the arrow with one hand and took a deep breath. 

“Why would I panic?” John asked. 

“Arrow? Chest? Not a good combination?” Rodney huffed. 

“Oh.” It seemed that John realized fort he first time that there was indeed an object sticking out of his heart. “Why isn’t there more blood? And why do you want to kill me?” 

“Nobody wants to kill anybody. Keep still, let me work, and then I’ll answer your questions,” Rodney ordered and with a careful pull he started tearing the arrow out of John’s body. 

It seemed that some of his cupid spell was still working, because Sheppard didn’t move, didn’t bat his hands away, or made another stupid move, and so a few seconds later Rodney held the arrow in his hand. Puh, it was really exhausting if you were watched all the time. Rodney preferred his invisibility. 

Wearily, he sat down on John’s bed and complained. “That’s really a mess. And that’s all your fault. If you would live on Earth like every sensible person, I wouldn’t have had to travel so far. Then I wouldn’t have forgotten to eat and then nothing of this would have happened.” He waved his hand to encompass Atlantis, John’s quarters and John himself.

John narrowed his eyes. “You know about the Pegasus Galaxy?” 

“Of course I do! I’m here you idiot.” Oh no, his arrow had hit a man who was dumber than a box of rocks. How unfair was that? And then he noticed for the first time the effect of the love dart, because he thought that John was really cute in his dumbness. Rodney shook his head and tried to keep down the lust that was slowly awakening and licking over his body with fiery tongues. 

Therefore it wasn’t really helpful that John’s fingers glided over his torso where the wound from the arrow was slowly closing and disappearing. “Wow! That’s cool!” He looked up at Rodney and said, “Why don’t you start at the beginning?” 

So Rodney pulled himself together and told John about the whole cupid business and that they made people fall in love. He mentioned of course how successful he was and that he was the cupid to call if there was a difficult case, and that his target rate reached nearly hundred percent. Not like some of his moronic colleagues who hit the wrong person because a) they hadn’t paid attention to which John Miller or Mary Smith was meant or b) because they were miserable marksman and hit the wrong person even from a distance of two meters. 

While Rodney was talking, John had climbed back onto his bed and was now sitting cross-legged beside Rodney, clearly avoiding the touch of the feathers of his wings, although Rodney would have liked that very much. He felt very hot when he imagined John’s fingers there. 

“Wait a second.” John held up one hand. “So, who is the person I’m meant to fall in love with?” 

“That is … uh… would have been Dr. Weir.” Rodney batted his wings nervously because they were only seconds away from the truth whose blood had been on the arrow. 

“Elizabeth?” John stared at Rodney. 

Rodney nodded. Now John would admit that he had loved her for a long time already, and then Rodney had to explain that it would never happen, because of all persons a cupid had screwed up. 

“Uh … I admire her, and I think she’s a good leader, and a successful diplomat but I have no romantic feelings for her. Never had,” John added. “In fact, you’re much more my type.” He smirked at Rodney. His fingers closed around Rodney’s and he pressed them. 

Rodney tore his hand away. “No, you don’t understand. I … I … dammit, I can’t sugarcoat it, so I’ll simply tell you the truth. You are falling in love with me because I hit you with an arrow contaminated with my blood. So, now you know it. That’s very shitty, but really not entirely my fault.” Rodney looked at John and raised his chin. 

And the idiot in front of him started laughing. And laughed. And wiped a tear away from the corner of his eyes. “That’s all your fault, trust me,” he said when he was able to speak again. “Your arrow, your blood, your mistake, your fault. You goofed.” 

When presented with such a causal chain, Rodney had to admit that Sheppard wasn’t totally wrong. He sighed deeply. “Yes, okay, rub it in. But what do we do now? Dr. Weir was on the list for you. It is totally unethical that you desire me now.” On an afterthought he added, “And I you.” 

“What’s your name?” John asked. “Or are you cupids simply numbered serially?” 

“Hey!” Indignantly, Rodney boxed John in the side. And felt John’s warm, soft skin under his fingers. He extended his fingers and glided over John’s waist. Then he shook his head, withdrew his hand and said, “We aren’t numbered consecutively. What a silly idea. My name is Rodney.” 

“Okay, Rodney. Let’s try this from a logical angle. You wouldn’t have had any qualms whatsoever to shoot me with an arrow that makes me fall in love with Elizabeth, even though I have no romantic feelings for her?” 

“That was my order.” Rodney nibbled on his lower lip. Where did Sheppard want to go with the argumentation? 

“So, why is it so bad, if I feel enamored of you? I mean, I prefer men, I’ve always done. Already under this aspect you’d be the better choice for me.” John sent him a seductive smile. 

Rodney knew that this was merely the cupid magic speaking and not John. He burst out, “But you don’t choose me out of your own free will!”

“Well, we’ll never know for sure. But I can assure you that all the porn on my computer is gay porn.” Johns caressed Rodney’s flight feathers with his fingers. 

Rodney shuddered and he had to close his eyes for a second. With lots of self-control, he re-opened them and said accusingly, “That’s the lousiest declaration of love I’ve ever heard!” 

With a dark, velvety voice John said, “At least it’s one.” With a smile he added, “All I’ve heard from you so far are complaints.” 

“Yes, yes, Mister Superromantic.” Rodney rolled his eyes. Did John really think that all the Brownie points went to him? Well, then he was in for a surprise! “Listen, I can assure you that I already found you hot before I shot my arrow.” 

And suddenly Rodney realized that it was right. He had found John attractive before this whole cupid-arrow-mishap had happened. So from his point everything was clear. Not only cupid magic was speaking but also his heart. Or perhaps his dick if he was really truthful with himself. He didn’t know a lot about John, only that he was an Air Force pilot and rather unflappable. And that he had a weird sense of humor. But Rodney knew with certainty that he wanted to feel the hair on John’s chest or find out what John hid under this teasing pink-red underwear. Or kiss the confident smile from John’s lips. 

And he would start with that. He leaned forward where John met him halfway. With a sudden clarity Rodney realized that the desire he had felt before was only like an old faded photo compared to the color-intensive feelings that were rushing through his body now. He wanted to feel John, all over, with all his senses. He groaned into their first kiss, and when John’s tongue glided into his mouth he grabbed him at the biceps and turned him so that John was lying under him. He placed himself over John and pushed a leg between John’s legs. Rodney covered both of them with his wings. 

There was a soft ‘plop’ and Rodney looked down at the floor where the book John had read prior to his arrival, had landed. On the cover were two men kissing, and the title was 'Homoerotic couples in classical myths’. Rodney was very relieved. 

Reassured and feeling warm all over his heart, he kissed John again. His last coherent words were, “Oh, yes!” when John started pulling his red boxer shorts down … 

 

\----The End-----

Link to the art that inspired this story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17854640

 

 

©Antares, February 2019


End file.
